He had a poor game but people are being harsh when they say he shouldn't have started ahead of Shaw. He absolutely should have. He had been performing very well since the City game and deserved his spot. Obviously now that may change but people proclaiming that he shouldn't have started are incorrect. Easier to appear smarter in hindsight.
17
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 39
- Clean sheets
- 19
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 2
- Yellow cards
- 4
- Status
What difference would it make if he was level?
Spot on here.
Pedro would have been offside and United wouldn't have conceded.
Pedro has been a footballer for a while now so he probably knows he can just take 2 steps over that way and he will be onside again.
Pedro would have been offside? And if Pedro was also 2 yards further back, that would make him in line with Smalling, which would have given him a much better chance of getting across too.... though that's irrelevant as Blind not matching Pedro's run is half the problem, he's not switched on and lets Pedro get ahead of him.
Attackers are regularly caught offside by defenders pushing up, it's fairly basic defending tbh.
If Pedro had dropped deeper to stay onside then De Gea would most likely have beaten him to the ball.
It was extremely poor play from Blind and set the tone for his performance all afternoon unfortunately.
What? There's plenty here going far further than I am when it comes to defending Blind today, hardly just me is it?
feck me you're stretching. My criticism of Blind is my way of exonerating him, unbelievable.Why don't you just answer the question? That's twice youve ignored it now. Come on, instead of making generalisations and mentioning post counts answer it.
The pace mismatch between him and Pedro was a problem.
I much prefer Blind as a CB or CDM where his positioning and football brain come in to play much more. When he first came to United he was seen as a potential successor to Carrick because of the way he plays his game. He probably is the only player in the squad who comes close to replacing Carrick, bar maybe Rooney who is virtually finished (yes I know they're not all the same animal but I'm talking about position intelligent players here). What we desperately need is a player who sits in front of the defence and controls the game. We've got plenty of players who can occupy the box-to-box midfielder, physical midfield presence and CAM slot but the Carrick successor issue needs to be sorted out.
I much prefer Blind as a CB or CDM where his positioning and football brain come in to play much more. When he first came to United he was seen as a potential successor to Carrick because of the way he plays his game. He probably is the only player in the squad who comes close to replacing Carrick, bar maybe Rooney who is virtually finished (yes I know they're not all the same animal but I'm talking about position intelligent players here). What we desperately need is a player who sits in front of the defence and controls the game. We've got plenty of players who can occupy the box-to-box midfielder, physical midfield presence and CAM slot but the Carrick successor issue needs to be sorted out.
What? There's plenty here going far further than I am when it comes to defending Blind today, hardly just me is it?
Why don't you just answer the question? That's twice youve ignored it now. Come on, instead of making generalisations and mentioning post counts answer it.
Why would I answer an irrelevant question and to be honest, I've yet to read this one post that you have bleated on about. The green smiley tells me it's all getting to you, by the way.
Last edited:
Do you think Pedro is an idiot? From his position he can see where every defender is. And he's just going to stay offside and not move move to an onside position?
My god. Smalling had the ball right there in front of him and he did nothing. De Gea was horribly out of position. And it all happened because Blind was 2 yards behind Smalling?
Pedro is faster so he gets ahead of Blind. That's not a problem. Pedro would not have receive the ball had Valencia and Smalling did their jobs right.
Smalling and De Gea don't cover themselves in glory, but you can't let your runner get ahead of you like that. Otherwise all teams would do is knock long balls over the top and playesr would be onto them.
Pretty much yes. Both Smalling and De Gea should have done better with the situation but Pedro was Blind's man and he first played him onside and then lost him on the run. Not sure how you can't see what a terrible bit of defending that was tbh.
How's it irrelevant? I defend a player based on something I beleive is unfair criticism (that he makes two to four mistakes a game), you then comment on how I will defend him regardless, yet refuse to disagree with me that the criticism is unjust. Hmm, I wonder why that is?
No the green smiley highlights how ridiculous your point is. Perhaps you can elaborate how criticising a player exonerates a player from criticism? You can see my quandary here!
Righteo. The man with over 100 agenda driven post in this thread is the one that will view Blind in an objective manner. Fair enough. Others are right when they told me not to bother with you. I've alluded to the fact that you have 'criticised' Blind for yesterdays performance but then again, you couldn't do much else. You still believe that he's good enough to a starter in our defence when it's clear as day that he really isn't. Your posts in here are a mess, to be honest.
Nope, the green smiley says that you're cracking. That's my take on it anyway and I assume I'm right.
Each and every random point you've critiqued about what I've said I've validated, when I've asked you to do the same you've ignored it entirely, instead concentrating on my post count! Oh look, yet again he's failed to elaborate on a another one of his posts. How does criticising a player exonerate him from said criticism?
Let's review. I've questioned Lawman assertion that Blind makes two to four mistakes every game. You've then harked in that I defend Blind regardless of how he plays. I've proved this isn't the case, mentioning my previous criticism of this very performance and that I have said I'd prefer Shaw to start over him at left back.
Undeterred, you've then said that I only criticise the player to exonerate him, which makes absolutely no sense, I've asked you to explain this and, guess what? You've refused. I've mentioned that my defense of Blind on this occasion was purely in relation to Lawman assertion that he makes 2 to 4 mistakes a game, I've asked if you disagree with this which you have flatly refused to answer, confirming my suspicions that you agree it's a nonsense statement, instead now targeting the amount of posts I make in a thread as proof of my bias.
Yeah, I'm the one that's cracking!!
Jesus your posts are an abomination.
You keep deflecting, refusing to validate anything you've said, maybe no one will notice what a tit you've made of yourself!
Hey why not mention my post count? That might do the trick.
Go back to the post I originally quoted you on and it was about you being a fecking drama queen. No idea why you keep reiterating what someone said about mistakes, as I don't really care. I've made a tit of myself says the bloke who becomes 'sad' when Blind is criticised and spends all his time in this thread defending a player that isn't up to standard. Fair enough so. Only one of us has made a 'tit' of themselves and it ain't Robbie Boy, sir.
For every good game he has there seems to be another bad one.. He isn´t good enough but he´s likable that gets him far.. But it´s time for Shaw to have a run of games now.
You then followed that post up with:
You decided to discuss my opinion of Blind, not me. You clearly had a problem with what I had said to Lawman, you just didn't bother to read what was said properly. Now instead of discussing that very point you've moved it on to post counts and anything else you can cling to to deflect.Well considering your staunch bias defence of Blind no matter what, I think it's fair to assume that anything that you say in relation to him, should be regarded as the truth and nothing but the truth
They wouldn't be able to knock anything if you don't allow them time and space. Close that left back down and the pass does not come.
Haha either you want him to play offside or you want him to follow Pedro. Which one is it? Cause he can't do both.
Let's make something clear. Blind was very much aware Pedro was behind him. He looked over his shoulder TWICE. The goal has got nothing to do with offside. Whether Blind is level with Smalling or 2 yards behind make little difference. Playing someone offside when they are behind you, and you have to turn to see them, is extremely risky. There is absolutely no way he was meant to step up to play offside. Not in that situation. Not in the 1st minute.
Now remember, Pedro is behind Blind. He can see Blind. Blind has to turn to see him. Blind also has to watch 2 things at once. The ball and the man. Add in the fact that Pedro is faster. It's perfectly understandable that Pedro gets there ahead of Blind.
Now look at Valencia, Smalling, De Gea. Everything was happening in front of them. But they did nothing to prevent it. Smalling even had the ball so close to him he chose to do nothing. It's laughable that Blind is being blamed.
He didn't do either! Stepping up so Pedro was either offside or in a deeper, less dangerous position would have been great. If he didn't want to do that then he has to track his run better. It's inexcusable to both play someone onside and then let them run clear like that.
Your defence of Blind is just repeating things that people have already told you don't make sense plus saying his positioning was so bad that after less than a minute into the game he had put himself into a situation where he could neither execute an offside trap or track the run of his man as he heads towards our penalty area. I wouldn't want you as my lawyer.
Nothing to do with his post, sorry. Can you not get this. I wasn't following your previous debate so I don't care about it. My comment was about your drama queen post. Then I stated that I had taken notice of you and read back through your posts and all your posts (significant amount, by the way) in this thread are basically you going against the grain and trying to make out that Blind is something that he isn't. So all in all, I can't really take anything you say about Blind as an objective view as you clearly have an agenda driven bias.
Then don't bother bringing it up in the first place then?
Best leave this now, we aren't contributing anything to the thread.
I'll quote what I want to quote, to be honest.
Good for you, bye now.
Blind shouldn't have played yesterday. To be fair he is being played out of position but it was very naïve to play him against a team with speedy wingers who were obviously going to use his lack of pace to their advantage.
Again, which one is it? You're confusing me. Either you want him to play offside, or you want him to adjust his position on the pitch.
If you want him to play offside, then he was in perfect position. If he was level with Smalling, how is he going to play offside? When the team was clearly not playing with an offside trap? And I repeat, no one will play offside in that situation.
If you want him to stand 2 yards up the pitch. I will ask again, what difference does it make? Pedro will just move back with him onside. He's not just going to stay offside. And 2 yards up the pitch makes no difference to how dangerous the chance is.
We have absolutely no idea if Pedro would have ran clear had De Gea not come out. Blind does not have to match his pace, he just has to close down the angle to goal.
And stop with the offside thing please.
You got it backward. You're the one that don't make sense. The offside trap is played by the whole team, not just one person. Same with defending.
He should have played him offside. You've just said he was in a 'perfect position' to do so. I agree. If Blind had stepped up to be level with our other defenders Pedro most likely would have been caught offside. If he had managed to stay onside it would have been by dropping deeper meaning De Gea would have beaten him to the ball when he came out for it. Either way Blind stepping up means we don't concede.
Once Blind made the mistake of playing him onside he absolutely has to track the run better. He was closer to the ball and the goal than Pedro but got absolutely nowhere near his man once Pedro made his run. He compounded one poor bit of defending with another.
You originally came into this thread asking with people were blaming Blind for the goal, it's been explained to you why by three different people. I don't really understand why you just want to keep repeating the same rebutted arguments over and over again.
No Blind holds the line or should be deeper with the runner he got caught out and made 2 bad decisions. That's the big fault for the goal the rest are a consequence of his actions.
Smalling was the person who made the big mistake, what he and DDG did were much more glaring than what Blind did.
Still a fantastic player.
I love Blind but feck me when he's bad he's really bad.
And whenever he's bad it always ends up costing us a lot. Apart from that one Watford game when Ighalo deliberately kept missing chances .
And whenever he's bad it always ends up costing us a lot. Apart from that one Watford game when Ighalo deliberately kept missing chances .
I also said no player in his right mind would play offside in that situation where he can't see the ball and the man at the same time.
How the hell do you know this?
How do you instruct your team defending against Bale or Walcott? Do you tell your defenders to just run as fast as them? No you stop the pass and intercept the ball. We had opportunities to do both but did nothing. Telling a slower player to match the speed of a faster one is idiotic.
Because your reasoning sucks. Like this post for example:
Actually I made a mistake. There is no reasoning in this post.
anyone with some sense can figure out its smalling who is mainly at fault. He should have controlled the frickin ball instead of letting it go. It wasnt even pacy or at a crazy height or something. If he had controlled the ball, it could have been averted.
Right, watch this
First off, blaming Valencia is silly... the ball is played first time, Valencia has zero chance of cutting that out.
Second Smalling. Smalling should and (probably could) cut that out... it's difficult to tell from this angle whether he actually could or not, but lets say that he probably should. However, he also see's De Gea sprinting out and has no idea that Pedro has stolen a yard on Blind (poor awareness from him) which is probably why he leaves it.... which is a pood decision.
Third, Blind... Blind is 2 yards behind Smalling and can see the line. He SHOULD step up. It's simple centre back defending. Before a pass is played you step up so you're in line with the rest of your defence and play someone offside. That is a mistake from Blind however you want to dress it up. (and saying that no one would play offside in that situation is incorrect... people get caught offside all the time from hopeful punts up the field) However, if he's not playing offisde, he needs to match Pedro's run... as a defender you HAVE to match the run.... especially when marking someone quicking then yourself. Blind however starts his run AFTER Pedro, which gives Pedro an extra yard on him. That's also poor defending.
Finally De Gea shouldn't charge out like that, it made the chance way too easy for Pedro. But if De Gea had stayed on his line, Pedro still has a 1 vs 1 opportunity because he'd alraedy stolen a yard on Blind.
So in conclusion, those are the 3 parties to blame for the goal... to blame Valencia though is just weird.
First off, blaming Valencia is silly... the ball is played first time, Valencia has zero chance of cutting that out.
Second Smalling. Smalling should and (probably could) cut that out... it's difficult to tell from this angle whether he actually could or not, but lets say that he probably should. However, he also see's De Gea sprinting out and has no idea that Pedro has stolen a yard on Blind (poor awareness from him) which is probably why he leaves it.... which is a pood decision.
Third, Blind... Blind is 2 yards behind Smalling and can see the line. He SHOULD step up. It's simple centre back defending. Before a pass is played you step up so you're in line with the rest of your defence and play someone offside. That is a mistake from Blind however you want to dress it up. (and saying that no one would play offside in that situation is incorrect... people get caught offside all the time from hopeful punts up the field) However, if he's not playing offisde, he needs to match Pedro's run... as a defender you HAVE to match the run.... especially when marking someone quicking then yourself. Blind however starts his run AFTER Pedro, which gives Pedro an extra yard on him. That's also poor defending.
Finally De Gea shouldn't charge out like that, it made the chance way too easy for Pedro. But if De Gea had stayed on his line, Pedro still has a 1 vs 1 opportunity because he'd alraedy stolen a yard on Blind.
So in conclusion, those are the 3 parties to blame for the goal... to blame Valencia though is just weird.
You should watch this 1. It has much better angles.
No it isn't. This is not his first time playing football. Everything was happening in front of him and it was a simple wall pass. He has to be closer to the left back not allowing him to pass the ball.
I doubt he could even see the ball from where he was standing. That's why he reacted rather slow to it.
You have no idea how it would've play out had De Gea stay on the line. He got in the way of both Smalling and Blind. Pedro was faster the first few yards because he had a longer run up and was already at top speed. Blind and Smalling weren't. They could have got between him and the goal.
Why should Valencia - our right back - be touch tight with their left back? That makes zero sense. Not only that, but 3 seconds before the pass is made, Rashford is with the left back, and when he moves up to press Cahill, Valencia also moves up out of defense. He does literally nothing wrong in this sequence of play.
Even if he can't see the ball, he should know where his man is, and if he see's his man making the run - Unless he's playing offside (which he obviously isn't) there is no reason why he shouldn't be able to match the run. If he gets outpaced by Pedro, that's different, but that's not what happens here... Pedro steals a yard on Blind because Blind is slow to react to his run.
Obviously it's impossible to tell what would happen if De Gea had stayed on his line, but considering a) Pedro is quicker then Blind and b) he had a yard head start on him due to Blinds poor reactions, it's safe to say Pedro would have had a one on one opportunity.
Yeah totally agree with you but the way some posters see it makes you think they are watching another game buddy.
- Status